Kansas City Council Repeals Law Against Domestic Abuse

Recent economic woes have been forcing cities across the U.S. to make drastic cuts in the budget. But one Kansas city's attempt to cut the budget caused a huge outcry, and rightfully so.

In Topeka, Kansas, the city council voted on Tuesday to repeal a local law that makes domestic abuse a crime. The drastic move comes as a result of budget concerns. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor had stopped filing misdemeanor cases, including some domestic abuse cases, due to budget cuts. He passed those cases onto the city, who also did not have the money to prosecute the cases, and ended up repealing the city's ordinance on domestic assault. Due to the large public outcry, the district attorney has since resumed prosecuting these cases.

I completely understand why there was such a huge outcry over this. I don't care how bad your budget is, it's never acceptable to repeal laws that make domestic abuse a crime. It is fortunate that the DA decided to take the cases on again so soon, but this should never have been an issue. Surely there are other cuts the city could make that wouldn't be so damaging to victims of domestic abuse.